Opening of Srikalahasti temple deferred as staffer gets Covid

Tirupati: An employee of Srikalahasti temple tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday evening which forced the authorities to defer opening of the temple for darshan from Wednesday.

Earlier, the temple management has decided to open it from Wednesday for trial run for two days followed by the darshan for general public from June 12 onwards.

The temple was under containment zone until Monday which was changed to Orange Zone by the civic authorities which paved the way for the temple authorities to open it for darshan. However, with an employee being tested positive, the temple area has again become a containment zone forcing the officials to postpone the plans to open it.

Due to the impact of Covid-19 along with other temples, Srikalahasti temple was also closed since March 20. Though other temples have started trial runs from June 8, Srikalahasti temple could not do so as it was under containment zone. Chittoor District Collector Dr N Bharat Gupta has instructed the officials to conduct Covid tests for all temple employees and people around temple on random basis.

These tests were being conducted since Monday. Out of those tested on the first day, so far one result came positive which pushed the whole issue back to square one. It seems the temple may not be opened for another two weeks based on the containment zone norms which disappointed the devotees of the famous Shivaite temple.